Click the play button to watch Metropolis’s managing editor, Belinda Lanks, discuss her In Production column in the November issue of the magazine.

Each month, In Production features a new product by an up-and-coming designer, alongside his or her detailed comments on the choices (and compromises) that led to the final design. It’s the kind of in-depth, process-oriented product coverage that you can only find in the pages of Metropolis. Click here to subscribe today.

This is the second of two reports from a recent daylong retreat at Philip Johnson’s iconic residence. Click here to read part 1.

Photos: Belinda Lanks

A small cadre of design professionals came together last Wednesday at Philip Johnson’s Glass House to discuss the thornier issues of Modern preservation. The site was a perfect setting for such a conversation: Johnson guaranteed the survival of his 47-acre compound in New Canaan, Connecticut, by transferring it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which opened the grounds to the public in 2007. Among the compelling questions raised were: What steps should be taken to ensure the survival of important postwar structures, and how can architects find new lessons in those buildings while respectfully moving beyond them? Read more…

I’m a lover of obsolete technology. To give you an idea, I like the scratchy sound of 78s played on my wind-up phonograph, and I covet every megalethoscope that makes an appearance on Antiques Roadshow. So you generally won’t find me mooning over the latest injection-molded, CNC-milled, or parametric-modeled design. Michael Hurwitz’s booth, therefore, was a breath of fresh air at this year’s ICFF. Based out of a small woodworking studio in Philadelphia, he handcrafts stunning one-of-a-kind pieces but recently collaborated with a friend in Japan to produce the more affordable Marina Line using sustainable materials. My favorite is the five-legged Plum Blossom barstool made of local Pennsylvania cherry. “In Japan they’re crazy about cherry blossoms, but in a pinch, a plum blossom will substitute,” Hurwitz says, referring to the petal-shaped seat, which comes upholstered in 100% recycled Maharam textiles. You can see the rest of his work at www.michaelhurwitzfurniture.com.

Among the usual more established attendees at ICFF, there are always a few refreshing and hopeful first-timers. This year Jenny Lemieux and Leo Corrales, of the Canadian-based Hero Design Lab, stood out for their resource-saving outdoor collection. Called Hero 365, the line consists of a clothes-drying rack and a rainwater collector made from powder-coated, recyclable metal with a cheery ’50s pattern. Lemieux and Corrales set out to refine two everyday objects that were badly in need of a designer’s touch. “The rain collectors you see are all those plastic, orange things that look horrible in a home environment,” Lemieux says. “And I’ve always had to buy a million drying racks because they fall apart. So we wanted to make something that would basically last forever.”

Her sturdy drying rack features swing-out bars as well as a pull-up drying table for those items that need to lie flat. (The designers are still working out some kinks but hope to have it production within the next couple of months.) The rainwater collector ($275) holds 45 gallons of water in a collapsible plastic bladder and has a place at the bottom for hanging your watering can. Harvested rain can then be used for washing your car or tending your garden—without drawing on your local water supply. Both pieces will arrive flat-packed from Canada.